Crosstie



R. FARNHAM.

CROSSTIE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22.1921.

119426 828, Patented Aug. 22, 1922.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

R. FARNHAM.

CROSSTIE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22.1921.

Patented Aug. 22, 1922.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I amen oz I abto cuag wN NN a was is e WW ROBERT rannrraru, or. PEIlLADELPHIA, .rnnns'rtvaura.

y i oaossrrn. assesses. sp n m i Patented Aug. i922.

Application filed June 22,

To all 20710772 it mag concern:

Be-it known that l, Roennr FARNHAM, citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crossties; and do hereby declare the fol-; lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the artto which'it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention consists of certain novel and v usefulimprovements in rail road cross'ties" and has for one of its objects to provide a cross tie of reinforced concrete, which when used in road building, will in effect present a continuous concrete road bed, a result which is very desirable where units of small weight are used to make up the whole. a

Another object of my invention isto so place the units, that when the weight of the moving load is made to reston each unit, the said load is practically centrally placed over the supporting surface of the'ballast, thus securing a practically uniform bearing and preventing an unequal distribution of the load, the consequent rocking: of the tie] and its loosening in the'ball'ast.

Another object which I have in view, is the securing of the rail, to'each individual tie, or to as many as may be deemed necessary, and thus prevent the creepini; or longitudinal movement of the rail'under traffic, and this object is aided by making the ends of adjacent ties abut.

' Another object which should'he noted, is that by my construction. the rail and entire track fasteningincluding wooden blocks and steel channels, may be removed and replaced without moving the tie proper from its position in the ballast. also any individual tie may be removed, without disturbing any of the adjacent ties.

This is made possible by having none of the track fastenings permanently secured to the tie.

As an additional object, my improved. construction will prevent the accumulation of water in the openings or spaces between adjaeent ties, thereby providing drainage for the ballast and road bed, a feature much to he desired in practice.

A further object which I have in mind, is to provide the ties with means for withstanding the outward thrust of the moving load,

1921. Serial No. treats.

in addition to the resistance afforded by the I block securing bolts.

i still furtherv object of my invention, is to provide a single member to act as anchorage for the bolts, securing the wooden blocks to the tie. this single member acting both as an anchor plate and as a nut.

With the above and other objectsin view which will appear as the description proceeds, theinveution consists in the novel features hereinset forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

1 is a plan view of two of my improved cross ties, showing one rail in place.

Fig. 2 is a side" view thereof. i

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of Fig. 2, showing the means for securing the rail to the tie.

'lTigQ-ll is a view taken on line 4'4 of Fifi 5 is a view taken on line of- Fig.2. i

Fig, 6 is a detail viewfof the steel reinforcement. v i i i I i Fig. 7 is a view of the bottom of th'eblo'ck upon which the rail rests and which is secured to the cross, tie."

Fig. 8 is' a view of the metal channel which is secured on the top portion of the wooden block. i 1

l designates tlie' main body of my improved reinforced concrete cross tie which is provided at each end with a T-shap'e'd portion'fl havi'ngthe edges thereof beveled as 21112. Through thece'nter of the cross tie and extending longitudinally thereof is a tubular'recesstl to receive a lock plate 10 adapted to be removably secured within said recess. The lock plate is rounded on its upper surface, as shown in Fig. 4, to fit in the top of the recess 9, and is tapped at 10 to receive the bolts 7.

The bolts 7 pass through apertures 17 in the wooden block 4, and secure the same to the tie. The top portion of the said block is cut away to receive the steel channel 4. which is also provided with apertures 17 adapted to register with the apertures in the wooden block 4. The block 4: is provided on its under side and on opposite edges with recesses 13 to receive the nuts 14; of the bolts 6, which through the medium of eccentric washers 5, secure the rail 8 to the block. The

and more particularly train,'which is the case channel iron is provided with holes 13" to receive the bolts 6.

The body portion of the concrete cross tie is reinforced by means of longitudinally extending steel rods 11, and transverse rods 11 which are wound around said longitudinal rods, as shown in Fig. 6; The T-shaped portions 2 of the cross tie are reinforced by the rods 11 which extend; through the. base thereof.

As shown in Fig. 5, thebody of the tie l is preferably moulded larger at its base than at the top, inorder to provide a greater supportingsurface.

It will be noted that nothing but the steel reinforcements are permanently cast in the concrete and'any portion of the track or ties may be removed or replaced without the use of special tools.. 1

The practical application of my improved concrete cross tie is obvious. The ties are laid in such a manner that the T-shaped portions 2 abut one another, as shown at 12 in 1 and 4. This prevents the creeping 0f the ties in the direction of the travel of the with ordinary ties. After the tie'sare'laid, they are packed around and tamped with ballast, thus forming when complete, practically an entire concrete road bed. i

' In order to "prevent the settling ofwater in the spaces between the pairs of ties, I have provided recesses 12 (Fig/1) in the base portion of the T-shaped cross sections. e 1 When the road bed iscomplete the wooden blocks 4 together with the steel channels 4 are secured in place by means ofthe bolts 7 and. the lock plates 10. The rails are then laid and by means of the bolts 6, the nuts 14 and the eccentricwashers 5, which engage the flange of the rail, are secured in place.

To prevent the outward thrust of the rails andiblocks l. provide a lug 15, which is cast in,th e concrete and serves to hold the blocks place. 1

By means of theeccentric washers and the beveled flanges of the rails, it is possible'to align rthe rails with little trouble. To accomplish this, the bolts 6 areloosened and rigid.

the rail moved in the direction desired. The washers are then put in place and the bolts tightened again. The eccentric washers working against the beveled portions of the flange of t 1e rail, will tend to hold the rail To replace any part, or to lay a newrail, the above operationis simply reversed, the

4 parts removedv and new parts substituted therefor.

An important feature of my invention consists inproviding orifices in the tiefor receiving the bolts or other track fastening means, as shown in the drawings, at such predetermined points that the said bolts or fastening means will at no time come into contactv with the steel reinforcements, thus obviating the necessity of insulating the rails to prevent short circuiting of electric current used forsignalling.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted tothe exactdetails set forth, since they may be modified Within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A reinforced concrete cross tie which is provided with. blocks for supporting rails,

said blocksbeingrecessed on their upper surfaces to receive a steel channel and on their lower surfaces to receive a plurality of nuts, means for locking the said blocks to the body of the cross tie'and means for securing rails to the said blocks.

2. A reinforced concrete cross tie which provided withblocks for supporting rails, said blocks being .recessed on their upper surfaces to receive a steel channel, and on their lower surfaces to receive a plurality of nuts, bolts and lock plates for locking said blocks to the body of the cross tie and means for securing rails to said blocks.

v3. A reinforced Y concrete cross tie as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for' securing the rails to the blocks consist in eccentric-washers. In testimony whereof I afliX my si nature. ROBERT FARNi-iAM. 

